This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a system for detecting products comprising a plurality of portable reading devices, whereby at least one portable reading device is assigned to a customer by means of which identification data for products to be purchased by the respective customer can be detected in a sales room regardless of the customer's location, and wherein the portable reading device has a control unit and a memory for buffering the identification data, a receptacle unit disposed in the exit area of the sales room having a plurality of receptacles for the portable reading devices, a control device by means of which the identification data from the portable reading device can be read and transmitted to a registration device for issuing registration information identifying the product purchase, and a payment unit for concluding a payment process on the basis of the registration information.
2. Discussion
The invention further relates to a method for detecting products, wherein by means of a portable reading device identification data for products to be purchased can be read regardless of their location in a sales room and buffered until the identification data, after the portable reading device is placed in a receptacle of a receptacle unit located in an exit area of the sales room, are transmitted to a registration device to output the registration information required for the payment process for the detected products.
A self-service product detection station is known from DE 20 2004 021 433 U1 at which customers independently and completely perform the detection of products and subsequent payment for said products usually performed by a register clerk. The self-service product detection station thus has a suitable reading device for detecting a specific number of products, wherein the reading device may be configured as an infrared scanner. After reading barcodes from the products, for example, these product-specific identification data are provided by the reading device to a registration device in which registration information, or price data, are assigned to the products detected so that said price data are displayed in a display unit, for example a touch-sensitive screen and the customer is requested to pay a total amount. For this purpose, the self-service product detection station has a payment unit so that the customer can undertake the payment process independently, where the payment unit can have a card swipe reader to make a cash-free payment. After paying for the products detected, the customer receives a register slip (receipt) from a dispensing slot, usually showing the individual products with their prices and the total. In order to check that all the products presented by the customer at the product detection station are detected by the reading device, a weighing device is provided with a floor scale arranged on both sides of the reading device. Each time that a product is scanned, a weight comparison is conducted of the two respective floor scales holding a shopping cart. If the increase in weight of one floor scale matches the decrease in weight of the other floor scale, it is assumed that the scanning process has been properly carried out by the customer so that the customer is requested audibly or visually to scan another product. With incorrect use in particular, this weight check results in malfunctions that require the intervention of an attendant.
A system is known from the subsequently published German application DE 10 2009 044 156 for detecting products at a stationary product detection station at which the customer detects products intended for purchase by means of a stationary reading device. Identification data for the products are detected and fed to a registration device so that registration information is collected and output in the form of a purchase receipt. Subsequently the customer can conclude the purchase process at a payment unit by making the payment. In order to check that the product detection process is complete, an optical control detection unit is provided, by means of which some of the products detected by the customer are additionally detected on a random basis. The identification data for the products detected ascertained by this method are compared with the identification data detected by the stationary reading device and checked for conformity. Following sequential checking, a verification signal is generated if the identification data are consistent, so that the payment process can be concluded by the customer. If a non-conformity is determined, that is to say if a product is detected by means of the optical control detecting unit that has not been detected by the customer himself, a correction signal is generated so that steps can be taken to the effect that the product not detected by the customer can be detected by the stationary reading unit and the purchase process can be concluded by payment. Detection of the products by the customer is not carried out by a mobile reading unit.